Almost Doesn't Count
by Lazy-Sloth
Summary: AU - What If... Just Maybe... Elrohir And Elladan Were In The Movies As Well? [Potential Slash]


Disclaimer: Don't own anything. And this has not been beta-ed. You have been warned! Yeah, I know my grammar sucks.  
  
Summary: What if Elladan and Elrohir were included in the movies?  
  
Warning: If continued will lead to slash. SLASH do you understand? I also kind of have a habit of not finishing my stories and disappearing for a while so. I. *runs for it* *runs back* Don't forget to review!! It's what keeps me coming back. Though it takes a while. *runs away again*  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
//Flash back//  
  
A young human boy no older then 6 or 7 runs across the courtyard to the stables, in his arms he carries a bundle of arrows and a small bow. Unable to see because of the lack of light he trips, sprawling awkwardly across the ground he bites down on his lips to stop from crying out. Fighting back tears he quickly picks up his fallen equipment before a slender figure kneels down and helps him.  
  
"Estel" the little boy looks up, tears he refuses to cry welling up in his big, grey eyes. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm going with you." He replied, "You and Elladan."  
  
Elrohir sighed as he picked up the arrows, piling them up in a neat pile by his side. "You can't Estel."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You are hurt" The raven haired elf reaches for the boy's hand which is scratched and bleeding from his fall.  
  
Estel pulls back. "Why can I not go with you?" he continues stubbornly ignoring the slight stinging from the cut.  
  
"You are too young."  
  
"I am nearly seven!" he shouted his voice echoing throughout the empty courtyard.  
  
"Estel."  
  
"I can fight! Let me come, let me fight with you."  
  
"You are but a child."  
  
A second figure, identical to Elrohir appears beside his twin brother his arrows and bow already strapped to his back.  
  
"Estel? What are you still doing awake?"  
  
"I'm going with you."  
  
"You are not." Elrohir snapped. "'Tis late, father will be worried when he wakes."  
  
"That's if he isn't already awake. Estel was loud enough to have woken the entire Middle Earth" Elladan added, looking around before turning his gaze back to his fostered brother. "Go back to bed, Estel."  
  
"No" he shook his head defiantly. "I am coming with you." His voice softer but nevertheless as determined as it was before.  
  
"No! You can not Estel!" In a forced whisper Elrohir shifted closer resting a hand on the boy's small shoulder. "You need to stay here."  
  
"Are you going because you are angry that mother is gone?"  
  
Elrohir's eyes widened as Elladan looked away unable to look Estel in his eyes and tears now flowed freely from the young boy's stormy grey eyes.  
  
"I want to fight for her too." Estel continued his voice croaky and broken. "Please do not leave me behind. I will not be a burden. I can fight." His voice trailed off.  
  
Elrohir looked to his brother whose shoulders were shaking ever so slightly before turning back to Estel his grip on his shoulder tightening. "You need to stay here, Estel, to protect father and Arwen."  
  
The young boy sniffed sadly and rubbed at his eyes. "Will you come back?"  
  
"Of course"  
  
Estel nodded as he struggled to his feet. "Right, I will take care of father and Arwen"  
  
Elrohir smiled softly as leaned forward to hug Estel who in turn wrapped his arms tightly around his brother's neck, tucking his head into the crook of his shoulder. A moment later they were joined by a third figure who hugged Estel from behind.  
  
"Take care Estel." Elladan whispered. "Stay out of trouble."  
  
The boy smiled as the twins let go and stood. He looked up at them, his brothers if not by blood then in heart, identical in almost every aspect tall, lithe and beautiful. One moment standing before him, eyes filled with love and affection and in the next, gone and Estel was standing alone. The bow and arrows and the graze on his hand were the only indication, the only reminder, that moments before he had been here with his brothers. That it wasn't a dream.  
  
//End Flash back//  
  
Aragorn rode into Rivendell with the remaining hobbits. His heart heavy for the young hobbit, Frodo, he hoped that he would be all right. Though he knew his father was the best healer throughout Middle Earth and if anyone could save the hobbit, he could.  
  
Greeted by the servants, Aragorn nodded and smiled politely as they ushered, the confused hobbits into the rooms that were set for them. After all these years, he was home.  
  
*  
  
Aragorn gently returned the 'sword that was broken' to its rightful place, as he mused about his encounter with the Steward of Gondor. He sighed as his eyes drifted to a painting nearby. The identical faces stared back at him, smirking as if they share a joke, or a secret.  
  
"You miss them" The man wasn't surprised as he turned around to meet Arwen, his foster sister.  
  
"Aye, but for what? They will not return."  
  
"Estel, you should know by now that they are elves of their word. If they said they will return. Then they shall return."  
  
"Perhaps" he sighed "For eighty years they roam, where else could they go?"  
  
"Time for elves is not as significant as it is for man." Arwen replied. It was no secret to those who were close to the man to know that Aragorn had donned the hood of a ranger in an attempt to hunt down his brothers. "You can not find then Estel, as hard as you try. It will be they, who find you."  
  
*  
  
"We will camp here for the night" The hobbits groaned gratefully as they collapsed face first onto the grass.  
  
"Do you wish for me to take the first watch, Aragorn?" The ranger turned to his companion and life-long friend, Legolas.  
  
"Nay, you rest. I am not tired yet."  
  
Legolas nodded and was about to reply when the 'swish' of a arrow landed with a soft 'thud' on the ground a mere foot or so away from Aragorn. Without hesitation Legolas let fly with his own, reaching for another Aragorn stopped him.  
  
"If that arrow was meant to kill, it would have."  
  
Legolas looked at him, confused. Aragorn moved to pull the arrow from the ground, examining it. "This is no orc arrow." He began. ".Rivendell"  
  
The hobbits were huddled between Gimli, Boromir and Gandalf as Legolas scanned the surroundings.  
  
"'Tis strange, how could none of us detect them?" Legolas questioned, a little apprehensive at being caught off-guard.  
  
Aragorn was lost in his own thoughts as he twirled the arrow idly in his hands. There was a moment of rustling that but all the fellowship on alert, it was followed by silence and then a chestnut coloured horse burst onto the scene.  
  
"If I had known Legolas was here I would have never fired my arrow."  
  
Aragorn dropped his sword in surprise as he stared into the face that he hadn't seen for so long and yet he remembered like it was yesterday he saw him last.  
  
"Mirkwood elves never miss."  
  
Legolas stared in surprise.  
  
"Not even Rivendell elves?" Aragorn smiled regaining his sense of speech.  
  
"Nay" another horse appeared carrying a hooded figure. He pulled back the hood revealing a small scratch on his right cheek. "Not even Rivendell elves."  
  
Legolas flushed, a pink glow developing on the tips of his ears as he bowed low and apologised profusely. "A thousand pardons, my lord. I did not know."  
  
"Why apologise Princeling?" The first figure interrupted, "'Tis Elladan's own fault for being too slow."  
  
The older of the twins rolled his eyes and chose to ignore his younger brother before leaping lithely off his horse and handing the arrow back to Legolas.  
  
"I believe this belongs to you."  
  
Legolas nodded, staring at the ground which somehow seemed so much more interesting right now. He shuffled his feet and muttered a 'thank you'  
  
"You have grown, Legolas. No longer are you that young elf-ling who followed Elrohir and me whenever we came to visit."  
  
The hobbits stared in awe as Legolas' ears turned an even darker shade of red. What the other elf said they did not hear but they desperately wanted to know. The normally, cool, calm collected archer was all flustered and blushing now.  
  
Elrohir meanwhile was staring at Aragorn, eyes narrowed slightly as he proceeded to poke and prod the man. "Ranger" he walked around, examining him. "Have you seen a boy? No taller then my waist. You remind me of him, but it couldn't be."  
  
Aragorn shook his head and smiled as Elrohir turned around and knelt before Pippin. "Estel?"  
  
"Merry." Pippin whispered, not taking his eyes off of the elf. "He's talking to me, Merry."  
  
Merry just blinked, looking at one elf to the other. Their likeness was astounding.  
  
"Elrohir, why do you jest?" Aragorn began, resting his hands on his hips.  
  
"Ranger, how do you know my name?" He pointed accusingly.  
  
Elladan appeared on Aragorn's other side, running a finger along the stubble of his chin. "Elrohir, I think this is Estel."  
  
"Impossible!" Elrohir scrambled to his feet, grabbing Aragorn's face and staring into his eyes.  
  
"Aye, I think it is. Taller, older and hairier but it is nonetheless Estel."  
  
"Is this true? Does my twin speak the truth? Are you our Estel?"  
  
Aragorn nodded, tears glistening in his eyes as Elrohir broke into a grin and pulled him into a tight embrace. "How you have grown, my dear brother."  
  
Elladan's arms soon found its way into the equation as his chest pressed into Aragorn's back and Aragorn had travelled back in time, he was back in the courtyard in the dead of night - with his brothers. His shoulder shook as he cried into Elrohir's shoulder as the elf made soothing noises.  
  
"I have missed you both so much." He managed to breathe out.  
  
Elladan chuckled. "We told you we would come back."  
  
Aragorn smiled into Elrohir's shoulder. "You did."  
  
Gandalf leaned against a tree, smiling fondly as he smoked his pipe. Legolas stood by his side, still holding the arrow twirling between his fingers as he watched the brothers, finally reunited. Boromir and Gimli looked at one another and simply shrugged before taking a seat on a fallen log. The hobbits just stared, awed and confused.  
  
Pippin paused thoughtfully before turning to Merry and in a very loud, squeaky voice asked. "What just happened?"  
  
~~~~~~~ 


End file.
